A federal judge appeared frustrated on Monday as he warned a woman who is suing incarcerated music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs over an alleged sexual assault in 1990 that the court "cannot take cognizance" of new claims introduced outside the formal complaint, stressing that the case's merits can be judged only on what's pled.
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TOP NEWS

Judge Stumped By 'Moving Target' Claims By Combs Accuser

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge appeared frustrated on Monday as he warned a woman who is suing incarcerated music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs over an alleged sexual assault in 1990 that the court "cannot take cognizance" of new claims introduced outside the formal complaint, stressing that the case's merits can be judged only on what's pled.

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NJ Justices Unsure Boys & Girls Club Abuse Suit Belongs In NJ

By George Woolston

New Jersey Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared skeptical of the breadth of relief sought in litigation over alleged sexual abuse in the 1970s and '80s by a then-counselor at the Boys and Girls Clubs of America's Hudson County chapter, questioning where the line is drawn if they decide Garden State courts have personal jurisdiction over the nonprofit.

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ExxonMobil Says Insurers Owe Coverage For Cancer Suits

By Mark Payne

ExxonMobil alleged that seven insurers failed to cover it against legal claims after two former contractors sued the petroleum giant, contending that exposure to a chemical in oil caused their cancer.

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NY Jets Can't Force Fired Executive's Suit To Arbitration

By Patrick Hoff

The New York Jets can't force a former finance executive to arbitrate her lawsuit alleging she was fired because her husband accused the team president of sexual harassment, a New Jersey state court ruled, saying her "convoluted" nondisclosure agreement doesn't unequivocally require handling retaliation claims out of court.

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Porzio Bromberg Wants Doctor's Malpractice Suit Tossed

By Adrian Cruz

Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC has asked the New Jersey federal court to dismiss a Louisiana doctor's lawsuit accusing the firm and one of its attorneys of legal malpractice, arguing the physician lacks standing to pursue individual claims on a bankruptcy-related matter.

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AGs Seek To Freeze EPA Solar Grant Funds During Challenge

By Abigail Harrison

A coalition of states asked a Washington federal judge to maintain federal money for Solar for All grants during the pendency of their lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to kill the program, arguing that they're likely to prevail on their claims that the agency can't legally claw back funds Congress already obligated.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

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Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

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Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

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Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

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Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

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Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

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Ex-Dechert Moscow Office MP Joins BCLP's DC Office

By Jack Rodgers

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Non-Law Firm Lobby Shops Overtake BigLaw In Trump Era

By Alison Knezevich

Law firms have been K Street's top earners in recent years, but some non-law firm lobbying shops, including Trump-connected Ballard Partners, have surpassed major legal industry players in 2025 as clients seek access to the White House in a year of upheaval.

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Latino Atty Drops Bias, Retaliation Suit Against Va. Law Firm

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Latino former managing partner for an employee-side law firm told a Maryland federal court Tuesday that he agreed to end his lawsuit claiming he was fired for flagging bias and advocating to raise a Black attorney's pay.

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Clifford Chance Adds Day Pitney Energy Pro In DC

By Christine DeRosa

Clifford Chance LLP has grown its energy regulatory and markets practice in the nation's capital with the addition of a veteran attorney from Day Pitney LLP.

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NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

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McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

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Law Firms Being Tested With Associate Performance Reviews

By Tracey Read

Eighty-three percent of U.S. and Canadian associates receive a yearly annual review, but there is room for improvement in how law firms evaluate their attorneys' performance, according to a new study.

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Trump Asks 11th Circ. For Redo On Clinton, DNC RICO Claims

By David Minsky

President Donald Trump urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to revive his Florida federal lawsuit alleging a racketeering conspiracy between Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee to thwart his 2016 presidential campaign with false Russian collusion evidence, saying the complaint was tossed without giving him another chance to replead.

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Brief

Rumble Alerts 9th Circ. To Recusal Bid Over Google Ties

By Emily Sawicki

Days after Rumble asked a California federal judge to consider recusal in the event the Ninth Circuit revives its antitrust lawsuit against Google, the video-sharing site flagged its recusal bid to the Ninth Circuit itself, filing a motion for judicial notice of the district court judge's friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief.

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1st Circ. May Nix Trump Funding Freeze In 'Weird' Case

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Tuesday hinted that a federal judge may have been in bounds when blocking the Trump administration from withholding certain funds for states, expressing skepticism that the judge's order was improper or overly broad.

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Atty Asks 5th Circ. To Address Outlying Matters In TM Case

By Elliot Weld

An attorney locked in a trademark battle with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked the Fifth Circuit to address the case again Tuesday, saying it did not get to several outstanding issues that will affect the case in district court when it vacated the firm's $1 million damages award against him.

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Asst. Gets New Try At Religious Bias Suit Over Wash. Vax Rule

By Ben Adlin

A divided Washington state appeals court panel said Tuesday a lower court was wrong to dismiss a legal assistant's lawsuit accusing the Washington State Attorney General's Office of wrongfully refusing her request for a religious accommodation to the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, reopening the suit.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akin Gump

Anderson Kill

Baughman Kroup

Bingham McCutchen

Binnall Law Group

Brownstein Hyatt

Bryan Cave

Cadwalader Wickersham

Caplan Cobb

Clifford Chance

Covington & Burling

Crowell & Moring

Davis Polk

Day Pitney

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Doumar Martin

Fishman McIntyre

Foley & Lardner

Goldblatt & Singer

Greenberg Traurig

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

K&L Gates

Kennedys Law LLP

Kirkland & Ellis

Lenzo & Reis

Lewis Brisbois

Lowell & Associates

Mayer Brown

Mazie Slater

McDermott Will & Schulte

McGuireWoods

Morgan Lewis

Norton Rose

Pacifica Law Group

Perkins Coie

Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Pillsbury Winthrop

Porzio Bromberg

Rebenack Aronow

Rynearson Suess

Sher Tremonte

Sidley Austin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Spiggle Law Firm

Squire Patton

Turning Point Litigation

Washington Law Firm PLLC

White & Case

William Edelblute Attorney at Law PLLC

Williams & Connolly

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Air Products & Chemicals Inc.

Akin's

Amazon.com Inc.

Apple Inc.

BGR Government Affairs LLC

BTI Consulting Group Inc.

Ballard Partners Inc.

Blackstone Inc.

Capitol Counsel LLC

Cardinal Innovations Healthcare

ConocoPhillips Co.

Cornell University

Cornerstone Government Affairs

Crossroads Strategies

Democratic National Committee

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Federal National Mortgage Association

Freddie Mac

Google LLC

Island Transportation Corp

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

LinkedIn Corp.

National Association for Law Placement Inc.

National Interstate Insurance Co.

New York Jets LLC

New York Post

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Podesta Group Inc.

RELX PLC

Sierra Club

Stanford University

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Universal Music Group NV

YouTube Inc.

Zurich Insurance Group AG

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Election Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Housing Finance Agency

National Institutes of Health

New Jersey Supreme Court

New York Attorney General's Office

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget

Washington Attorney General's Office